Fantastic Fun in Fujairah this Friday

Who said that nothing ever happens in Fujairah?

Take this Friday (26th November 2010) for example and looking at the forecast (pictured), you'll want to stay for a week.

Fishing for Fun from 8
You could start off the day by participating in the fishing competition from the ship-shaped Fujairah International Marine Club. There’ll be some enthusiasts who will be serious about the handsome prizes but the management at the club intend it to be a day of safety and fun.

Bringing or chartering a boat on the Fujairah waters gives a different perspective of the emirate than what you see from the car or walking along the street. If this is your first visit to Fujairah, have a look at the Fujairah 360 Degrees Panorama to get an idea of the city layout.

See how fishing is integral to the Fujairah way of life.

Dhow Cruise
If fishing is not your caper then spend some of the time on a dhow cruise exploring the eastern coastline of the UAE and frolicking in the Arabian Sea.

Walk the Beaches
If you’re more a landlubber than a boatie you can walk the corniche, do some bird spotting or explore the terrific beaches in the neighbouring emirate of Sharjah. The water temperatures are great at the moment. Many amusements at the Khor Fakkan beach and wonderful solitude on the Khor Kalba Beach as you walk down to the Omani border.

Bull Butting from 4
Bull fighting in Madrid but bloodless bull butting in Fujairah. This starts in the late afternoon.

If you are looking for more, check out some things to do along the Fujairah Corniche.

Hungry?
Lots of Emiratis are cooking up their food on a BBQ at beaches and on the side of the road at the moment. If you aren’t fishing, get some fish from the fish souq or just have a look at this market which is something ancient and modern.

If you’re looking for something more advanced there are seafood restaurants at the Harbour Club and the new Concorde Hotel’s Samakino, Arabic food at Al Meshwar, Chinese delicacies at the Oriental or the Zhonghua Huiguan Restaurant, coffee and cake at the Faseel Café, Arabic sweets at the Tourist Night Souq, fast food at the new McDonald’s or the refurbished KFC or why not go Yemeni with a mandi? Then some like to end the day with a scenic shisha.

Reflection
If you care for some formal reflection there are mosques a plenty (see the grand mosque emerging) and a growing number of Christian churches that congregate at different times on a Friday or on other days of the week.

Sword Competition from 7
This Friday at the Fujairah Fort there is something special—two world records to be set, the continuation of the sword competition, enjoyable entertainment, Arabic food to sample and heritage crafts to purchase. Come on down after you have seen some bull butting.

Saturday
Stay over night in one of a number of hotels and do your own exploring of heritage sites (Fujairah Fort, Al Bidya Mosque etc.) and nature parks (Wadi Wurayah).

There is much to do in Fujairah during most weekends. Not usually lots of canned entertainment as in other UAE cities but part of the fun of Fujairah is ferreting out for yourself the surprising and fascinating features of this emirate.

Getting Here
You can get here by boat, ocean liner or seaplane but most enjoy the unusual desert and mountain landscape that one experiences by car or bus and the opportunity to stop at places like the Friday Market.

Finding More of What’s On
Check out the Fujairah Observer which comes out as a monthly magazine and appears online at this link. The back copies are a mine of information with informative articles and lists of restaurants and hotels.

Fujairah in Focus on Facebook is regularly updated with news, views, links and pictures of all things Fujairah.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted on the Fujairah in Focus Facebook Page.

Image: Take a look at the weekend forecast for Fujairah: Every day it is sunny. Every day it is comfortable, reaching a high of 86F/30C. Every night it is balmy, sinking to a low of 63F/17C.

Weather
Keep a check on the upcoming Fujairah weather on the right column of this Fujairah in Focus site.

How to Get to Fujairah?
Here are directions for one way from Dubai/Sharjah to Fujairah and some things to see along the road. Download the directions from this link.